Saturday, October 03, 2009

First of all, it starred my FAVORITE, Japanese actor, ITO (HOT-TAY) HIDEAKI!!

Second, I watched this in conjunction with DREAM (Korean drama I'll dissect next), and by comparison - BUZZER BEAT was better - BUT, not by far.

~ Let me explain ~

The Japanese drama also starred a guy named Tomahisa Yamashita -

He's not bad-looking, and I had to admit he's got a pretty, awesome CHEST, too. His hair kind a bugged me, but not too much.

And, either it was his character who seemed a bit, too mopey for me, or he's like that all the time? Hang-dog, emotionless, boring kind a guy? I don't know, but it drove me crazy a majority of the time that I watched this exciting and well-written drama.I liked his skin, too. It was golden, smooth, and flawless - like the hip clothes he tended to wear - crop pants in purples and print t-shirts under a flannel shirt.Still, if I met the guy in person and had to spend any amount of time with him, I'd probably have ended up SHAKING him physically and begging him to WAKE UP! Offer him copious amounts of coffee or something, I guess.To me, it was like he wasn't digging the part or the job, and he just, wanted OUT.He played Kamiya Naoki, a wanna-be basketball player for a second-rate team in Japan, and it was his lack of faith in his talent which kept him from being the best at the sport. He grew up playing the game, and as a child, he swore that he would become a great baller some day, and yet as a young adult, he still carried enough doubt in his mind to hold him back.At the beginning, he's dating one of the cheerleaders, Nanami Natsuki (Aibu Saki), who also works for the basketball organization, and she knows there's something wrong with her boyfriend, but her way of bringing out the best in him backfires when she has repeated sex with another teammate, and a guy not, too many girls watching along with me at aznv.tv found attractive -

Kaneko Nobuaki (金子ノブアキ) as Yoyogi Ren

I liked him, though. He was a 'dude' in every sense of the slang term, and I guess after seeing one Ken-doll, effeminate actor after the other, Nobuaki was a welcome change of pace sensually speaking.I've also, always had a penchant toward naughty boys, too, and until the end of this drama, Kaneko's Yoyogi played the antagonist to the hilt. He's a good actor who brings realism to his work, and I appreciate his efforts, so I hope to see him in something else soon.What I didn't like was that my honey, Ito's Kawasaki (the coach) lost out in love to Yamashita's Naoki. It was another of the ubiquitous fated to love you with a triangle twist stories, where HE leaves his cell phone on a bus, and SHE finds it - but, instead of getting to return the item to its rightful owner, she instead meets Kawasaki, who retrieves the cell for Naoki and falls crazy in love with HER at that instant.

SHE, btw, is Kitagawa Keiko as Shirakawa Riko.Such a pretty woman! Love her hair, her eyes, her skin -- she even wore a few, cool tops, and she showed off her curves as well - another, refreshing change of pace in the Asian drama department! Or, maybe it's that I'm coming from the Korean aspect, where all the girls dress like 30-something, single school teachers? She did a lot of running in kitten heels, too, which I'll never understand or figure out how it's possible to do!She'll either end up busting an ankle or getting a really, bad back when she's older - who knows.I can't do it!Anyway, Riko is a budding violinist with the same, self-doubt plaguing her as Naoki has with his game. Every night, she finds Naoki practicing on the court across the alley from her apartment bedroom window, and it's the same place she likes to go to practice her violin. While she's trying to be nice to Kawasaki, who is now in dogged pursuit of her heart, she is falling deeper and deeper in love with Naoki, who is still with the cheerleader messing around behind his back.You get where this is all going, right?It's a cute story with good characters and a surprising ending (but only from the American not understanding Japanese culture stand-point, I assure you).The music was great, too!

Let's get to the fun stuff now, shall we?

!! the PICTURES !!

(sigh)

(yes!)

(everyone suspected the guy on the right had a thing for Kawasaki-san)

(he even looks FAB in the gekko!)

he kind a gets the feeling Naoki-san is doing something behind his back -

his sinewy, broad back.

(he's gotta go to Boston, and he knows

something ain't right with him & Riko)

I CRIED!! (come to me! i'll cheer you up!)

(ok - what I wouldn't give to be on THAT beach!)

See what I mean about Yama's chest? (and his hair?)

(giggle)

~ Now for the kawaii aspect of the drama ~

the apartment where Riko lives (love the colored balconies!)

Kawasaki-san bought Riko a huge bouquet of red roses after a mall concert, and Naoki-san had this, single sunflower.